Western Red Cedar is known for its wide color variations, ranging from light yellow-brown, pink-brown, salmon-colored to chocolate brown. The dark wood usually comes from the central part of the trunk, while the lighter-toned wood occurs more on the outside. The wood can also show dark and light tinted stripes. Both dark and light wood have the same quality. When exposed to light, the color differences fade and the wood takes on a light yellow-brown to pale red-brown color. The sapwood, which is almost white, varies in width. The wood has a typical cedar-like smell, a bitter taste and contains no resin passages. Quarter sawn wood shows a fine stripe pattern due to the color contrast between early wood and late wood, while flat sawn wood has a subtle flame pattern. The pinkish-brown wood is sometimes reminiscent of Californian redwood, while the light yellow-brown wood shows similarities to Oregon Pine. Western Red Cedar has a straight grain, fine grain and shows little grain.
| Name | Western Red Cedar |
| Growth area | Western North America |
| Botanical name | Thuja Plicata |
| Durability class | 2 |
| Strength class | To follow later |
| Artificially dried | Yes |
| Voluminous mass | approx. 370 kg/m3 wood moisture content: 12 % |
| Suitable for | Facade paneling and as exterior and interior panelling |
| To edit | Easily machined and machined by hand |
Western Red Cedar is easy to work with, both by hand and by machine, with all tools, provided they are very sharp. If too blunt tools are used or if too high pressure is exerted on the surface during machining, there is a risk that the hard late wood will be pressed into the early wood during planing and milling. Afterwards, the early wood returns to its original shape, resulting in an irregular, ribbed surface of the wood. When planing Dosse parts there is a risk of blistering (scaling). Because the wood is soft and the surface can be easily damaged, the knives should also be free of burrs.
Western Red Cedar has been mentioned in the KVT'95, Quality of wooden facade elements. This means that frames with a KOMO product certificate can be manufactured. In 1989, a Dutch standard was published in the series Quality Requirements for Wood (KVH 1980), NEN 5471. It is therefore mentioned in the assessment guidelines (BRL): -BRL 2301 Softwood, -BRL 9021 Wooden outdoor sheds.
Western Red Cedar is durable, lightweight, sturdy, resilient and highly resistant to rot and weathering. Over time, the wood acquires a beautiful, silver-gray surface. This American type of wood is mainly used for facade carpentry, window frames, rebates, laths and sidings.
This process is very fast, provided the wood is thin. This causes little distortion. Drying thick wood must be done carefully because there is a risk of collapse or internal cracking. A batch of Western Red Cedar may contain parts that are difficult to very difficult to dry. Determining the average moisture content of such a batch can therefore sometimes cause problems.
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